] Let me reiterate. Merely announcing a bold new plan to
] travel to the Earth's Moon or to Mars is not sufficient.
] If the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia merely results
] in that proposal, we will have failed the memory of our
] brave astronauts who lost their lives aboard both
] Challenger and Columbia. And we will have failed our own
] future.
]
] Unfortunately, our current charge is more difficult. We
] must challenge our assumptions, question our decisions
] and designs, revisit our approaches, and rethink our
] Nation's ambitions and goals for space. We must submit
] ourselves to the discipline to begin anew. The future of
] space and our Nation's reputation that we carry into
] history rests in the balance.

U.S. Senator Ernest F. Hollings' Floor Speech on Introduction of the National Space Commission Act of 2003 | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference